Spyke

Horror story called “The Enigma of Amigara Fault”.

::: spoiler Tap for spoiler A central part of the climax is not being able to move backwards out of a hole, with disturbing consequences. :::

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snoonsreply
lemmy.ca

have you seen a male elephant getting ready to smash

10
snoonsreply
lemmy.ca

Yes. In a wildlife documentary porn. They have total control. Shit's wild.

16
lemmy.world

Female dolphins have as much control over the inner walls of their vaginas as we do over our (facial) cheeks. They can apply pressure and change the internal shape of the cavity.

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Hazelreply
piefed.blahaj.zone

I remember as a teen coming across this site where someone meticulously documented (might've been made up) their sexual relationship with a dolphin.

The internet was a wild, wonderful place.

13

Sounds like the legendary DolphinSex.org. It's down now but Internet Archive has it. You're not the only one to get sent there and wonder wtf this whole "Internet" thing was even about.

4

this is going in some ones bum. it might not come back out again without a enema or surgical intervention. but some one will, you mark my words.

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Hoimoreply
ani.social

Looking at it, I wouldn't be surprised if "can crawl up the bum" was one of the stated goals of the project. I can see medical applications for a soft robot that navigates tight spaces. Let's hope "can crawl out the bum" is on the roadmap.

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lemmy.world

Technically, if it keeps crawling up the bum it will eventually come out the other side.

5
zikzak025reply
lemmy.world

What makes this any better than the existing flexible scopes used for colonoscopies, though?

1

But then you could just do a capsule endoscopy instead, if length was an issue.

1

It doesn't have to be an ass rope to start with, but it will be by the time it's done.

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the rope should probably be measurably larger than a long ass if it's going to be safe for use.

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lemmy.today

Tbh they probably did, there's likely more profit in it as a luxury sex toy than in prosthetics or manufacturing.

I work in prosthetics and have seen a couple of tentacle-like terminal end devices made over the years, but they all fail to truly be useful for anything.

They fall into the category of being not efficient enough for specific or universal uses. For something like manufacturing they aren't as efficient as building a specific tool for a specific purpose, and for something like a prosthetic they aren't useful enough to overcome the fact that most things we interact with everyday are made to work with something in the shape of a hand.

So an expensive space dildo is likely the most profitable option if they can bring it to market at an achievable price. But honestly, most of these things are mainly created as an eye grabbing marketing scheme for some universities research department.

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SparroHawcreply
lemmy.zip

It's not meant for prosthetics or manufacturing. It's a robot that can get into tight spaces without depending on wheels, tracks, or legs, which are likely to get hung up on corners and debris. It could be used to, for example, crawl into rubble, or explore irregular caves. If it's designed right it could be made pretty cheaply, even. Biggest downside is that it can't climb, but that problem exists with most other robot designs as well.

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lemmy.today

It essentially has the same issue. How many scenarios can we think of that need something that can crawl into rubble or explore irregular caves, but without the ability to climb? It's what happens when a design's aesthetic is developed before its function.

When aesthetics is the selling point of an engineering project then the aesthetics is its purpose. In this case it's to advertise a university's research department.

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SparroHawcreply
lemmy.zip

Running cables through conduit is one example that comes to mind. You need something to drag the lead, and if there's corners or something that thwarts using a fish tape, this kind of robot would be perfect.

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lemmy.today

It's still not as effective as the current means. Plus, this would only hypothetically work on conduit that doesn't elevate or go vertical. It's cheaper and faster to just apply a shop vacuum to the conduit and suck a ball with a line through.

1

If the robot is the right size, it would be able to move vertically.

Mind you, you're right, but new methods of locomotion can come in useful in surprising ways that you and I haven't thought of.

1